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Latest News Updates In Energy and Infrastructure

The BJP's thumping victory in Uttar Pradesh and substantial gains made in other states will facilitate reforms as the ruling party inches closer to a majority in Upper House, Moody's Investors Service said today.

Indian sponge iron or direct reduced iron (DRI) manufacturers are facing an acute shortage of iron-ore despite the government liberalising norms for the allocation of iron-oreblocks and with the country poised to achieve a five-year high in the production of the raw material.

As many as 222 mineral blocks are in the pipeline for auction in 2017-18. While all these blocks could be potentially auctioned, the actual number of blocks to go under the hammer would depend on their status of exploration and the readiness of the respective state governments.

The Rural Electrification Corporation data shows that these villages located in 19 states have been electrified in 510 days. Of the 5,559 villages that are still dark, a majority are in north-eastern states like Arunachal Pradesh (1,229) and Assam (945), as also eastern states like Odisha (848), Jharkhand (858), Bihar (570) and Chhattisgarh (464).

Despite a surplus scenario in the power sector, the tendency of states to overdraw from the grid is rising, with the volume of over-drawls failing to see a decreasing trend that is typical of a surplus scenario.

Inox Wind Infrastructure Services Ltd., one of the four winners of the first wind power auction held in October, is already looking to sell a stake in the 250 MW project it was awarded, people familiar with the development said.

Power companies that win coal contracts with the Coal India Ltd (CIL) in the forthcoming auctions will have to ensure that they sign long and medium-term contracts for power supply with discoms within two years.

The international crude oil price of Indian Basket as computed/published today by Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas was US$ 49.72 per barrel (bbl) on 14.03.2017

Shares of oil marketing companies such as Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL), Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) have potential to double investor wealth in the next three years, according to a report by Deutsche Bank.

The government will launch the second round of small oilfield auction in 2017-18, and introduce a policy to incentivise production from ageing fields in a bid to raise oil and gas output declining for the past few years, the oil minister has said.

In an attempt to improve the quality of Beijing’s polluted air, the authorities are planning to mandate that every new taxi in the city must be electric or gas-fuelled, China’s National Business Daily reported last month.

The tax battle between British oil major Cairn and the government is set to get murkier, with the income tax (I-T) department considering appealing in a high court against a tax tribunal’s order giving Rs 18,800-crore interest relief to the company.

The government will extend the lease for oil or gas fields four years before the initial 20-year term expires, failing which an extension plea would be deemed to have been rejected, says a draft proposal on the new exploration policy aimed at eliminating extension uncertainties faced by contractors.

India’s premier government-sponsored think tank, NITI Aayog, has come up with a new policy that aims to change the face of India’s public transport with a combination of electric vehicles, as well as upcoming technology such as the Hyperloop and SkyTrans.

As many as 35 clusters, accounting for half the total freight movement, have been identified for building logistics parks to improve the existing transportation and warehousing scenario in the country.